Sport
18 January, 2026
Who will be the Loddon's top sports achiever?
ANOTHER brilliant year for Loddon region sport will be celebrated on Monday night with the naming of the 2024-25 Loddon Herald Sports Star of the Year award.
Twelve nominees from sports as varied as woodchopping, cricket, athletics, football and netball will vie for the prize, to be announced at a special function at Wedderburn Hotel.
Among them is last year’s inaugural winner, Boort’s Carly Isaac, who is in the running for winning her third consecutive Wycheproof Queen of the Mountain title.
Boort golfers Andrew Kane and Di Johnston were nominated for winning the Victorian Sand Greens Championship and the Kara Kara Golf Association’s women’s title respectively.
Wedderburn’s Haley Smith was October 2024 nominee for winning a Ranch Horse Association of Australia national title.
Luke Boyd, from Boort, was nominated for his efforts on the winning team in Boort Basketball Association’s summer mixed competition.
Bridgewater junior netballer Rachael Flood is in the mix after being chosen for the elite Netball Victoria Talent Academy.
Another Boort star, junior cricketer Cooper Gooding, was honoured after averaging 207.5 with the bat to the end of January.
At the other end of the age spectrum, Wedderburn’s Ruth Hall became a nominee for winning the North Central Champion of Champions at 83.
The March nomination was shared by Wedderburn junior Shelby Giorlando, who toured Malaysia and Thailand with the Australian Country U21 hockey team, and Kingower cricketer Jayden Leach, who dominated the Upper Loddon season with bat and ball.
Inglewood local John Coffey Jnr’s success in woodchopping at the Sydney Easter Royal Show won him the April nomination, while Woodies junior footballer Mitchell Pickering’s goalkicking exploits, which included a 12-goal haul, saw him named in May.